New Guidance on work-related stress

If work is stressing you out you are not alone. Work stress is a challenge for and a threat to the health of both workers and organizations. As the nature of work and work environments change, so do the kinds of stress problems that employees face. And work organization plays a significant role in work stress. People may experience work-related stress when their job demands and pressures are not matched to their knowledge and abilities, and they have a low amount of control over meeting these demands.

Stress is often made worse when employees feel they don't have support from supervisors and coworkers. Some pressure at work is unavoidable and may even keep workers alert and motivated. However, when that pressure becomes excessive or unmanageable it leads to too much stress, which can harm workers' health and the performance of the organization. The more control workers have over their work and the way they do it, and the more they participate in decisions that concern their jobs, the less likely they are to experience work stress. Most of the causes of work stress are related to the way jobs are designed and the way organizations are managed. Because these aspects of work can potentially cause harm, they are called 'stress-related hazards'.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has published a new website describing